Today, there are a great number of wind farms in Canada and the United States and throughout the world, each including a number of wind turbines situated over a large area on an open field. Existing wind farms need to use underground cables, which are situated in protective shields, to transfer the electrical energy from each wind turbine to a holding area or a facility. From this facility the generated power is transferred to the electrical grid for immediate use. However, the costs associated with the construction and operation of such wind farms can be prohibitively high, thus causing certain towns/municipalities to reject proposed wind farms based on their projected costs.
Furthermore, concentrating wind farms in a few locations is not efficient use of the prevailing wind energy. If the wind is not blowing in the areas of the wind farms, or if it only blows during a specific season, then such wind farms are inefficient in providing instant wind-generated power.
In addition, the rezoning of land to allow wind farms has been an ongoing problem for wind power providers, e.g., due to noise and aesthetic concerns associated with wind farms.
Other types of power companies utilize a network of tower-like structures, sometimes referred to as “hydro towers” and “electricity pylons” (depending on which country one is in), which are connected via overhead power lines to supply electrical power from the source (e.g., hydro-electric or nuclear plant) to a distribution grid (which distributes the power throughout residential areas). In addition, telecommunications companies utilize a network of poles, which are connected by wires or cables overhead, to transmit or distribute electrically-conducted signals (voice and/or data) over large areas. These tower-like structures and poles can be collectively referred to as “transmission towers” for purposes of this specification and the accompanying claims.
Such transmission towers are widely scattered throughout many countries, and already have a right of way associated therewith. Thus, it would be advantageous if such transmission towers could also be used to collect and distribute energy derived by natural power, such as wind and/or solar power. Moreover, because these transmission towers are widely distributed, constant power can be generated whenever or wherever the wind is blowing.